PISCATAWAY, N.J. – What a first season it was for Agent Zero in Scarlet.
Rutgers men's basketball's freshman point guard
Derek Simpson finished his 2022-23 campaign averaging 13.7 points-per-game in his last six appearances. Simpson scored 18 and 19 points respectively in the final two games of the season for the Scarlet Knights and finished the season starting the last three.
Simpson showed flashes of freak athleticism at the guard position throughout the first few months of the season and finished with consistent production in the starting lineup.
On the season, the Lenape High School grad averaged 7.1 points, 1.5 assists and 20.1 minutes-per-game. He appeared in 34 games and started in six. Simpson shot an impressive 37.4 percent from the field and 79.3 percent from the free throw line. He scored in double digits in 11 games.
On Dec. 3 against No. 8 Indiana at Jersey Mikes Arena, Simpson had his coming out party in the 63-48 victory. Playing in his first career Big Ten Conference game, the true freshman scored 14 points, all coming in the second half.
RU went on a 19-0 run in the second half fueled by an 8-0 run by a Simpson to blow past the Hoosiers in the second half behind a sold-out crowd in Piscataway. That run erased Indiana's final lead of the game and turned it into a double-digit lead that the home team would hang on to.
Simpson led one of the biggest comebacks in school history on Sunday Feb. 6 in Happy Valley against Penn State.
Propelled by his career-high 16 points, RU pulled off a 19-point comeback to beat Penn State 59-56. The victory marked the biggest comeback win at RU since 1996 when Rutgers defeated Pittsburgh following a 20-point deficit on Feb. 21. With RU trailing by two points and 1 minute and 30 seconds on
the clock, the Mt. Laurel, N.J, native drove to the hoop and converted on an and-one layup to put RU up one.
"Oh, man, I didn't know Derek was a freshman tonight," Fifth-year forward
Caleb McConnell said. "Derek was awesome tonight. We got him going. He found a hot hand. Derek got downhill and just created plays for us."
Simpson was back into the starting lineup come Big Ten Tournament time. In the second round of the tournament Simpson scored 13 points leading RU to a 62-50 victory over Michigan at the United Center. Simpson's teammates waited for him to slap the "Rutgers" label on the bracket in the locker room following the game.
"The coaches and my teammates all gave me confidence," Simpson said after the game. "They told me, go in there, play with your speed, and get everybody open and create for others. I feel like I did that today. Shout out to my guys for making all the shots, and we played great defense."
Simpson went on to score at team-high 18 points in the valiant effort against Purdue in the third round of the Big Ten Tournament.
RU fans can expect a larger dose of Simpson heading into his second season at RU. Simpson will have his second full offseason of training with the coaching staff and will continue to get stronger as he prepares to be one of the featured guards for Rutgers in 2023-24.
